Vaccine injector



I July 20, 1943. E. PO WELL VACCINE INJECTOR Fi led Jan. 29, 1942 d, Powe// can be observed. a

vaccine fluid and the bird is stuclgeither in the time builds up an immunity, within the f fowlfs.

a sure charge, the opera Patented July 20, 1943 The vaccination of poultryds carried out by what is termed" the stick method" andthe brush method; Thefstic kmethod places thevaccinationrnaterialfl or vaccine" within the skinof the bird toa depth of from s toy; inch. Ifvac 5 cinated through the Wing webb,the material is placed completely through :and naturallyjorms two spots on the skin'wherevaccihation injuries- The instrument used tov'accinatefowls by the m stick methodfi, is some sortpf sharp sticking, scarifying, puncturing, or incising arrangement. Instruments most used are darning' needles and in an improvised handle, knives or scalpels,.and

struments. u v e .1 In use; the sharpginstrumenttis di ped into the thigh or Webb of the wing; the virusin the vaccinating material is carried; into the skin and; the particular area becomes active with the disease induced and within a certain'period of bodyywhichrenders it resistant to' that particu lar disease fora certaintime,

' e ap he .q i lldins d sdva ts pfthe stick methodff isthe time and motion. required to carry out the. vaccin'atingv procedure, l Fori exa ample; one must carei ullyarrangethe vial con- 9 taining the vaccine; must carefull dip theinstrument into the liquid and laboriously carry out the. motion of redipping for eachbird vaccinated. a e u Waste of vaccine material, would be considered asnext to importance: .Ijof,assure the.Vaccinatcninstrument having enough potent liquid to parry usually usestoo much.

This not only wastes t u I M u I 7 dose the bird andnausetoo harsh a vaccination reaction. a e w Danger .of" carele handling] and spilling and spread of, the virus isjcommon under thepresefnt, system. Allauthorities ca tion aainst the (spill,- ing of 'vaccinein cases where the farmer deals. with the live viruasuch as is ,the casewhen ,han dling chickenpox vaccine) r v V The brush method oi vaccination, because, of the directbe'aring it has upon ,theTijdea lierein described, .a populartype-of present day; vaccination should be mentioned. It isfthefso called. brush-type. u H u u v Instead of asharpinstrurnent, a stifi bristle brush, similar toa glue brush is used' l This is dipped into the vaccine and: theyvaccination is dosed or under dosed, in the foirrnercase becominstrument. While this;is a major trouble, en-

carried out by pulling a few feathers from the birds bodyand brushing the virus. into the open bleedirrgfholes "left where the wing feathers were formerly attached. This inducesthe disease into this area and immunity is promoted.

Another vaccination proce'dureis, to dip the brush into the vaccination fluid and brisklybrush a portion of the bird"s mucous membrane, for example, the inner part of the anus, or what is scientifically: termed the fowls cloaca or vent. This induces the disease in theparticular posteriorportion of th'e birds anatomy and renders an immunity, which for example, prevents the, fowls head partsyor breathing apparatus from becoming involved which, latter cases may resultiri thebirds death and great economic loss tothe ratings) Present practices ofthe use of the brush present 8 thesame disadvantages as those listed above for thestick method, viz;, laborious waste vaccine,

a careless and dangerous handling, of live virus vacefxposure' of vaccine. to air, dust, sunlight eatahdf technicalflaspects of'mixing'the vaccine" or u'se with the brush, Most certainly the spread ofthe diseases, as outlined above, may

" e' j J s .asfira i with fi bru h is e a g withthestick instrument above described, and on theface of "it, t; would pear that the brush wouldpresent a? multiple arrangement of stickersposed as possible from. excess air, dust, sunlight od, or' the br ush method, is usually performed with all fourin excess and'many cases areon recordwhere one or all of these agencies have renderedthe vaccine impotentor ineffective.

The technical aspects of the present vaccine preparation are somewhatdisadvantageous. The farmer. receives a measured quantity of liquid material and in addition, a measured quantity of dry powder like substance. These he must mix just before yaccinating, and if not mixed acto expert instruotions,birds may be overviolehtly ill, or. in thelattercasanot acquiriing the necessary] immunity] to protect them ,Spreadfofdisease through. the agency ofthe niz'e d authorities regarding ,the possibilities of organisms from the body of one bird being transferred to the body of another, through the medium of some such sharp vaccinator which is used as a common wounding instrument for thousands upon thousands of birds one after the other. The sum and substance of popular authoritative thinking, however, is coming more to regard this as something to be dealt with in the control of some of the most dreaded and persistent poultry diseases. The Powell vaccinator is an instrument originated, designed, built and used to overcome the disadvantages and improve upon the vaccination of animals, particularly fowls, turkeys, chickens, etc. Wherever it has been carried on, with its major object or purpose to place within the skin, on it, under it, or in or on the membranes or, in fact, any of the tissue cells, or part of the body of any animal or bird, any vaccinating substance, I

whatsoever. 7

The present instrument is a-cylinder or metal with a movable plunger so arranged that when the thumb pushes a plunger, an exposed needle is drawn into the barrel where it becomes wet with the liquid, which is contained therein. Upon releasing the thumb pressure and slowing the plunger to come to rest, the needle becomes an integral part of a sticking assembly, which consists of the penetrating points and a third inner point, the aforementioned needle-which comprises the sticking assembly when thrust into the body of the bird or animal, carries with it the substance picked up by the sliding needle as it reached its position up inside of the barrel containing the reservoir of liquid, or other subto careless handling during vaccinating opera-.

tions; it helps protect the vaccine from air, dust, sunlight and heat; it helps to hold down to a minimum, the chances of spreading theilive virus vaccination materials around the farm to unvaccinat-ed birds, etc, it furnishes a measureddosage of vaccine to the bird or animal, which in the case of certain vaccines containing live virus,

helps to assure the success ofthe vaccination and prevent non-takes, as well asmortality an illness, due to overdosage.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side view of the assembled instrument, particularly illustrating the invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of Figure 1 on line 2--2, Figure l.

Figure 3 is an end view taken at the injecting end of the instrument.

Figure 4 is a detailed view of the feed control plunger.

Figure 5 is a broken view, partly in section, of a modification, illustrating a brush applicator principle.

The improved vaccine applicator instrument comprises a cylindrical body I, forming a vaccine reservoir and having a'liquid tight applicator nozzle 2 at one end, and closed by a liquid tight' wall 3 at its opposite end. Arranged in the nozzle end 2 is a sharp penetrating point-formed member 4 for preparing the flesh of the fowl for receiving the vaccine in the following manner.

A plunger 5 is loosely fitted within the hollow point 4 and the space surrounding the same within the member 4 is sealed liquid tight against the reservoir I by a sealing gasket 6, which is secured to the plunger 5 by the collar 8. The plunger 5 extends rearwardly of the instrument passing through the wall 3 at 9 with a working fit that will be tight enough to prevent passage of the vaccine I0 from the reservoir I. An arm II is secured to the plunger stem I2, preferably at a right angle thereto and extends beyond the outer wall of the instrument through a slot I3. The plunger I2 extends beyond, the arm II into the adjustable guide I4 at I5. The guide I4 is formed at I6 to receive a spring I1, which functions when operating to force the stem I2 towards the nozzleend of the instrument, seating the gasket 6 against the shoulder I8 of the nozzle 2, and preventing the vaccine from escaping from the reservoir through the hollow point 4 and past the plunger 5.

In order to permit the vaccine to now out a through the point 4, the arm II mustv be forced against the spring I1, withdrawing the stem I2 and moving the gasket 6 from the shoulder I8, allowing the vaccine to flowpast the plunger 5. The arm I I is operated in thefollowing manner.

Surrounding the body of the instrument is a reciprocating tube I9. This tube is operated by the forefinger and second finger of the operators,

The amount of vaccine that will be released 7 can be governed by the position of the adjusting guide I4, which controls the longitudinalztravel of the plunger I2. In order to freeflow of jthe vaccinefrom within the cylinder I when the gasket 6 is withdrawn, a breather hole 24 is .pro-

vided within a vaccine filler cap 25. Thishole is normally closed by a pad 26, butasthe tube I9 I is moved towards the rear of the instrument to operate the stem l2, ..the pad 2 6 will, uncover the hole ,24 allowing air to enterthevaccine chainber. r In operation, the. instrumentis held .inth e hand as described; the point 4' is ap'pliedunder pressure to a convenient place on the fowl, penetrating the flesh. The tube. I9 is moved longitudinally of the device by the fingers of the hand through the loops 20 forcing the arm I I "and. plunger I2 to the rear of the instrument, retract-v ing the gasket 6 from' the shoulder I8 of the noz-' zle and allowing vaccine to flow along the plung er 5 out'the nozzle point 4 to the flesh of thefowl. On the releasing of the loops vMI, the spring I!- will return the tube I9 to the position shown,fre-.

turning the gasket 6 to its sealing position to cut off the supply of the vaccine to the applicator point 4.- t

Another preferred form of applicator is shown in Figure 5, wherein the brush principlev is used The mechanism in thisiinstrument is-the same,

except that bristlesil are located: in the nozzle 2 in place of the point 4., A number of feathers are removed from the fowl and the vaccine re leased through the bristles 21 is applied to the V bleeding flesh of the fowl by the brush. v

' It is believed that an instrument with individual points to be, used on thefowls will prevent the spread of disease. 7

What is claimed as newis: 1. A vaccine applicator, including a reservoir, a perforating point at one end of the reservoir, 'aplunger operative in such point, a

vaccine sealing element on the plunger to close the point against the reservoir when the plunger is in operative position, means for automatically moving the plunger to operative position, and means for manually Withdrawing the plunger to inoperative position relative to the point, said manual means withdrawing the sealing element to permit free communication between the point and reservoir.

2. A vaccine applicator, including a vaccine reservoir, a hollow penetrating point at one end of the reservoir, a plunger movable in the point to deliver vaccine thereto, an extension of the plunger leading through the reservoir, a seal on a manually-operable sleeve slidable on the reservoir, a connection on the sleeve toengage and operate said extension to move the plunger and seal to inoperative positions, and means cooperating with the extension to automatically move the plunger and seal to operative position on release of sleeve control.

3. A construction as defined in claim 2, where-' in themeans for automatically operating the plunger and seal includes a spring cooperating with the plunger extension and tensioned to operate such extension when the sleeve is operated to move the plunger and seal to inoperative position. 7

4. A construction as defined in claim 2, wherein the means for automatically operating the plunger and seal includes a spring cooperating with the plunger extension and tensioned to operate such extension when the sleeve is operated to move the plunger and seal to inoperative position, together with adjustable means to limit movement of the seal and plunger under sleeve operation.

5. A construction as defined in claim 2, wherein the reservoir is formed with an air vent, and means controlled in sleeve movement fo opening and closing said vent.

6. A construction as defined in claim 2, wherein the plunger extension is formed with a lateral arm and wherein the sleeve is provided with a projection to engage said arm to move the plunger extension, said plunger extension beyond the arm cooperating with an extension operating spring tensioned in the sleeve-compelled arm movement of said extension.

7. A construction as defined in claim 1, where- I in the penetrating point includes a tubular element removably engaging the reservoir end, with said tubular element formed with penetrating points at the end remote from the reservoir.

EDWARD POWELL. 

